116 solar panels installed by Ross Solar Group sit atop the St. Rose of Lima Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center in Newtown, Conn. Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. Thanks to the panels, the religious education center will be a "net-zero" structure with all electricity provided by the solar panels and no fossil fuels.
Photo: Tyler Sizemore

116 solar panels installed by Ross Solar Group sit atop the St. Rose of Lima Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center in Newtown, Conn. Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. Thanks to the panels, the religious education center will be a "net-zero" structure with all electricity provided by the solar panels and no fossil fuels.
Photo: Tyler Sizemore

116 solar panels installed by Ross Solar Group sit atop the St. Rose of Lima Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center in Newtown, Conn. Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. Thanks to the panels, the religious education center will be a "net-zero" structure with all electricity provided by the solar panels and no fossil fuels.
Photo: Tyler Sizemore

The electricity control room inside the St. Rose of Lima Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center in Newtown, Conn. Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. The religious education center recently received 116 solar panels that will make it a "net-zero" structure with all electricity provided by the solar panels and no fossil fuels.
Photo: Tyler Sizemore

The electricity control room inside the St. Rose of Lima Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center in Newtown, Conn. Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. The religious education center recently received 116 solar panels that will make it a "net-zero" structure with all electricity provided by the solar panels and no fossil fuels.
Photo: Tyler Sizemore

NEWTOWN -- When a local contractor was looking for help in creating a building for St. Rose of Lima Church that didn't cost anything to operate, they knew Ross Solar was up to the task.

In less than 10 years since opening, Ross Solar, based in Danbury, has quickly grown to become one of the dominant installers in the region with its holistic approach to every project. The company, which was founded in 2006, claims to control more than 10 percent of the residential solar market in the state and says it has a near 20 percent market share for commercial projects.

"On average we do one installation every day," said Walter Erikson, a project manager. "We also have a six-month waiting list of jobs in the pipeline."

Mark Johanning, a project manager with Verdi Construction from Bethel, said they interviewed several subcontractors for the job before selecting Ross. Johanning said the unnamed benefactor who paid for the church's new Faith Formation Center completed last month also wanted the building to be free to operate for the organization.

The building, he said, includes extra layers of spray-foam insulation and all electric appliances to take advantage of the electricity provided by the 116 panels being installed on the structure's roof that can generate 38 kilowatts of electricity.

"Ross Solar really has a great reputation and the quality of their work is phenomenal," Johanning said. "We were really impressed with their operation."

The system that was installed on the building is expected to generate in excess of 40,000 kilowatts of clean energy annually while offsetting more than 60,800 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Erikson explained that the system is connected to the electric grid and that the church receives credits for extra electricity produced during the high summer months that isn't used by the building. Those credits are then used by the church to offset any costs during the winter season when the panels produce less electricity.

He said the company is also in the process of installing a similar type of system for the Torrington United Methodist Church, which has been struggling recently to meet the increasing costs of utilities in the state.

To date, Erikson said, Ross Solar has installed more than 1,500 systems throughout the state since the company was formed. The business employs 42 workers.